Scorecard Best Practices

Implementation Time Frame and Reason for Scorecard System Deployment

Is a faster implementation of a scorecard system better for the organization? As Exhibit 8.2 indicates, the answer is: “No, provided the system is implemented within two years.” There is little relationship between the time it takes to implement a scorecard system and the benefits received from the system. For implementations taking more than two years, there is a drop in the level of significant benefits from their scorecard system. This is understandable because organizations that take this long to implement their systems often have systemic issues that hinder their ability to achieve satisfactory results: data accessibility/quality; the initiative may be underfunded or undervalued; or the project's objectives may be too overreaching, often attempting to achieve too much granularity.

Exhibit 8.2: Relationship between Time to Implement and Benefits from Scorecard System

While many might consider quick implementation of a scorecard system desirable, it is more important to take the necessary time to properly design and implement the system so that the reasons for its deployment are satisfied. As described in Chapter 2, the reasons for implementing a scorecard system can be categorized as those for operational management and those for strategic management.

Organizations that take relatively longer to implement their ...